Hornster - bike horns don't get any louder! + video

Another crazy creation from the ETA's Yannick Read - this time with train horns and a scuba tank...

If you've read our review of the Hornit db140 bike horn but you're thinking that even that amount of white-van-baiting noise won't be enough to get you heard, then maybe the Hornster is what you need.

The Hornster is the brainchild of Yannick Read, who's always thinking of bright ideas to drum up some publicity for the Environmental Transport Association, who offer cycle breakdown and insurance cover. He comes up with some good stuff too, the gold Brompton and the James Bond bike and the world's smallest caravan spring to mind.

The Hornster is designed to "highlight the dangers that cyclists face on city roads", say the ETA. It's fitted with an Airchime KH3A triple horn from an American locomotive, running from a scuba diving cylinder. That makes the bike a touch unweildy to ride, with the seat about a foot and a half back from where you might expect to be sitting and the scuba tank directly in front of you. You'll need to take your ear defenders too you if you want to deploy the horn.

No matter, at least you can make yourself heard. The horn is rated at 178dB at 3ft which is probably enough to kill small animals. "The same quietness that makes bicycles such a civilised way of getting around makes them vulnerable to inattentive motorists - the Hornster is a wake-up call for drivers who don’t pay attention to bikes," says Yannick of his creation, which is louder than Concorde landing and much punchier than a lorry horn, as the video below ably demonstrates. Looks like you could have a lot of fun with it...

Dave is a founding father of road.cc and responsible for kicking the server when it breaks. In a previous life he was a graphic designer but he's also a three-time Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling world champion, and remains unbeaten through the bog. Dave rides all sorts of bikes but tends to prefer metal ones. He's getting old is why.